The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1887-02-17
OPENING THE N0RTHW EST
NEW RAILROADS TO THE MINING AND
COAL REGIONS OF MONTANA.

Legislation Before Congress Granting
Right of Way Through Indian Reserva-
tions--A Line of New Towns Projected.
Various Other Capital News.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 16.-The passage by
the senate of bill giving the Billings,
Clarke's Fork & Cooke City railroad right of
way through the Crow Indian reservation in
Montana, marks another step in the constant
encouragement which congress has given
railroad building in the west and northwest
Che present session.
The past week the senate has passed bills
granting the Palouse & Spokane railroad
and Washington & Idaho railroad right Of
way through the Cceur D'Alene reservation,
che st. Paul Minneapolis & Manitoba road
right of way through the Fort Berthold and
IBlackfeet reservation, the Billings, Clarke's
Fork & Cooke City right of way through the
Grow reservation, and the Fort Worth &
Denver road right of way through Indian
Territory. The house has, from its Indian
effairs committee, received very strong
report favoring the bills allowing the Rocky
Fork & Cooke City railroad right of way
I across the Grow reservation in Montana.
This legislation will open the way for the
construction of three new lines of railroad in
Montana this spring, and as the companies
are already incorporated and the capital Sc
cured. it is expected that they will all be
pushed to completion before another winter.
The incorporators are New York, Philadel-
phia and Iowa capitalists, who are interested
largely in the mining regions of the territory,
but who have as yet been unable to work
their mines profltably on account of the ex-
treme cost of transportation by wagons.
The Rock Ford and Cooke City road is
expected to open the New World mining
region, said to contain the richest mineral
deposits in the northwest. The prime object,
however, of both this road and the Billings,
Clarke's Fork and Cooke City road was the
enormous coal fields lying about the head
waters of Rock creek which have never yet
been developed The coal is of the peculiar
western kind termed Ignite, not as valuable
as either bituminous or anthracite, but
nevertheless making an excellent fuel. The
fuel famine in the northwest has done much
TO give these bills an impetus in congress, and
one committee includes in its report the
statement that coal is $50 ton in some
parts of Montana, and green sapplings are
worth $15 load.
The St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba
road, for which o bill has already been passed
granting it right Of way through the Fort
Berthold reservation, already has its road
graded across the reservation, and is fast
moving into Montana Word has been re-
ceived from the president, Mr.. James J. Hill,
Of st. Paul, that it is hoped to reach the
falls of the Missouri before next winter Be-
yond that point no plans for the road have
yet been made public. To that point it
parallels the Northern Pacific through Da-
kota and Montana, and it is already buying
land and plating a new line of towns across
these hitherto unsettled and still unsurveyed
plains 1t is asserted here that the two
Idaho roads above mentioned are parts of
Mr. Hills system, and that a new live from
St. Paul to the Pacific will be construed be-
tween the Northern and Canadian Pacific
roads before the country is aware of it.
Meantime new legislation for the railroads
as regards Indian rights is becoming more
stringent with each bill passed, the only dis
satisfaction with the bills expressed by the
friends of the Indian being that the increase
In railroad facilities will raise such clamor
for the opening of his reservations to the pub
lie that congress will not be able to withstand
the pressure.